Record day for John Lewis

John Lewis logged its biggest trading day on record as Black Friday sales helped make up for a few weeks of “challenging sales”.

The retailer said that it booked a 7.2 per cent rise on year-on-year sales in the week to 25 November to £214.3 million, having seen 705 items per minute ordered online at the peak.

“Marked by Black Friday and price matching through our Never Knowingly Undersold policy, it was the biggest ever week and Black Friday was the biggest ever day in John Lewis’s trading history,” John Lewis operations director Dino Rocos said.

It came “after a few weeks of challenging sales in the run up to Black Friday”, Mr Rocos said, echoing comments from fellow retailers who have recently flagged concerns over a softening UK consumer market as households battle inflation that has surged to 3 per cent.